Christmas

Pillsbury Coupons

Our family usually goes all-out for Halloween. For Thanksgiving, we invite all of our friends and put up a few decorations. But when December rolled around, I realized that most of my friends jubilantly updated their Facebook statuses announcing they had decorated their home for the holidays. Darling Christmas decorations stared at me from one status to the next. Gorgeous trees and even Menorahs seemed to mock my lack of holiday cheer.

So… my daughter and I decided to decorate a tree on December 1st – just in time for breakfast. I can guarantee you that it went up faster than anyone else’s tree – and probably went down (with a cup of coffee or milk) a lot faster, too!

This photo didn’t turn out very well, but when I came back with my good camera, the kids had already dug in and there was nothing left to photograph! LOL. I found the Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree recipe on Pillsbury’s site, but it was my daughter’s idea to add the cherries. In fact, they have MANY very cute recipes. My kids would love the Silly Snails, but I want to try the Java Glazed cinnamon rolls. Be sure to stop by their coupon page and print the latest coupons needed for your recipes. They actually had one to save .50 cents off 2 Pillsbury Sweet Rolls or Grands Sweet Rolls when I wrote this post, but their Pillsbury coupons offering changes up often.

Sure, it’s not a real tree, but it did help my holiday doldrums enough that I boxed up the Happy Harvest decorations – and it doesn’t drop needles all over the floor, so it’s really better than a real tree – at least for now.

Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree

So easy to make and so cute on the table, my daughter and I had a blast making this cinnamon roll Christmas tree. The kids had a blast eating it!

Ingredients:

1 cans Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls

Maraschino Cherries‎

Christmas Sprinkles

Instructions:Wrap cookie sheet with foil. Assemble cinnamon rolls as shown in image and bake according to package directions. Spread with frosting (included with cinnamon rolls) Decorate with cherries and sprinkles.

Thanks to Pillsbury for the VIP coupon for a free can of Pillsbury® Cinnamon Rolls OR Grands!® Cinnamon Rolls. We sure had fun putting this together… and even more fun eating them. While Pillsbury’s generosity was an inspiration to post, my thoughts are genuinely my own. I’m sure I will be coming back to print some more Pillsbury coupons so we can do this again – or try a different fun recipe.

Free Craft Ideas using Junk Mail and Recycled Cards

Check out these awesome Christmas craft ideas that reuse junk mail and recycled holiday cards. I usually despise junk mail. It just fills up my mail box, and the marketers seem to really go after me at Christmas! Our mailbox is so stuff full of catalogs and offers to buy things that our recycle bin is overflowing weekly. I am also a bit of a pack rat. When someone takes the time to send me a Christmas card, I feel guilty for throwing it away. However, I don’t know what to do with all the cards from over the years and artistic creativity is one of the things I lack. I was very excited when I discovered the Party Planning Center Blog. They have all kinds of great free printables, recipes, party ideas and resources.

She also had the answers to my dilemma.

Christmas crafts made from Recycled Junk Mail

I am intrigued by these adorable homemade Christmas ornaments made from junk mail. What an inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays. She has the complete tutorial on her site. You just need your favorite craft punch or scissors and a steady hand, some ribbon and your chosen embellishments and you are ready to go. Just follow the tutorial linked on this page.

Christmas Garland Craft made from Reused Christmas Cards

I also am in love with this Christmas Garland made from last year’s Christmas cards. I really like tinsel garland, but I have cats and they like to eat it. Tinsel is extremely dangerous for pets, so I prefer not to use it. I love her idea to use Christmas cards from previous years to make a garland. I don’t like to throw them away because they represent thought someone had for our family. What a great way to preserve those memories! It also seems like a great way to make some new memories! Both of these crafts seem pretty easy and I look forward to making them with my kids. It’s better for the environment, it’s cheaper than buying new ornaments and it adds a personal touch. You can find the easy to follow tutorial for the Christmas garland made from old cards is linked on this page.

Butterfly Cupcake Toppers

Also, if you subscribe to her newsletter, you can get the pattern to make these beautiful Winter Butterfly Cupcake toppers. Just in case you can’t tell by my website’s theme, I have a thing for butterflies 🙂 She also occasionally sends out other free printable crafts and party decorations in her newsletter, so it’s definitely worth subscribing to.

Enter to win a $40 Credit for Holiday Cards at PearTree Greetings

Enter to win personalized holiday cards from Pear Tree Greetings.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to create some Christmas cards for my family from PearTree Greetings. Every year, I exchange cards with my family. Most of them live about 2000 miles away, so it’s a way that we can close the gap on that distance.

I received mine in the mail today. Pear Tree Greetings uses high quality paper and the inks are bright and true. I was even able to customize the envelope with our address, so I don’t have to hand label them or use sticky address labels. I was even able to choose a card that was printed on 100% recycled paper. The environment is important and should be protected, so kudos to them for having this option available.

In addition to cards, they also have a large selection of other stationery, such as gift tags, address labels and party invitations. The Christmas letter inserts are also a cool idea. You can share a favorite recipe or a story from the year and include it with your cards.

The site’s organization makes it easy to navigate and the online tools are easy. Creating and customizing my cards was very easy. In fact, the hardest part was figuring out what I wanted to say!

I am giving away a $40 credit to one lucky person to get their own Pear Tree Greetings cards, so be sure to enter to win. The credit is only valid on their holiday goods.

Look at all the beautiful Christmas cards on Pear Tree Greetings website! I was enthralled when I first saw it and couldn’t wait to make my own.